As some of you may be aware, I have just started working, and as a fresh graduate, navigating the corporate world is certainly not easy. Human relationships and office politics are often difficult to avoid. However, for us as Christians, what should be our approach?
When we talk about working, Ephesians 6:5-9 comes to mind:
"Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him."
For most of us as employees, we ought to do our best and perhaps go the extra mile at times. In the office, our colleagues know us as Christians, and thus we’ll need to be the salt of the earth and light of the world, in order to be fine examples as Christians. This includes not getting involved in office gossips, drinking etc. While socialising is important, do we start drinking alcohol when we find out that our boss favours employees who drink? Certainly not!
As Prime Minister Wong recently said, we should also move beyond the 5Cs. This seems to indicate that Singapore society has always defined success as material success. I suppose it will take at least a generation to get there. For us as Christians, we should always remember that we’re just pilgrims on earth and should never chase material success at the expense of our spiritual life.
When it comes to work, we do our best, and perhaps we might expect a better performance bonus or a promotion, so that we can earn a better living for our family. There is certainly nothing wrong with this. Nevertheless, despite doing our best at work and going beyond what is expected, we still may not get the bonus we expected, or the promotion might go to another colleague instead. How do we react? I would say that if we have done our best, that is enough. For me, I shall leave the rest in God’s hands, knowing that God knows what is best for us. While we may sometimes be disappointed at not getting that promotion or bonus, we should still not be disheartened, but rather be thankful that we still have a job. At the end of the day, we should work hard because we fear God (Colossians 3:22-23)
Many of us work hard in our physical lives. As seen in Proverbs 6:6-8:
"Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest."
We should be like the ant who works hard and plans ahead. We ought to be laborious and do our best at work. For anything else, we should leave it to God. Otherwise, it seems like an endless rat race, where we keep chasing after promotions, bonuses, etc. While it does translate to more money, do we then also give more every Sunday once we earn more? Additionally, once we get promoted or perhaps have the chance to relocate to another country, do we also consider other factors such as finding a church to worship in?
I think many of us in Singapore are ingrained to study hard, get good grades, and then subsequently get a good job. This is all part of our secular life, but what about our spiritual life? Do we also put in the same amount of effort? Amidst our busy schedules, we should set aside time to study our Bible and do the works of the church. If not, we will slowly become “lazy” and slacken off. Just like the ant who is diligent, we ought to be diligent in our secular life and, more importantly, our spiritual life.
I suggest being self-disciplined in studying God’s Word to prepare for the future and, more importantly, our future after this life. As Matthew 6:33 says:
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
We should lay up treasures in heaven. Ultimately, the whole duty of man is not life on earth but as it is written in Ecclesiastes 12:13:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all."
On this note, I’ll like to remind brethren to continue to work hard in our secular job, but more importantly, to work hard in our spiritual life!